The sky was horribly gloomy, with heavy dark clouds pressing down, making everything as far as the eye could see lead gray. The wind seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. On the mountains, thousands of branches swayed left and right, and the leaves billowed like waves. In such a weather, the nursing home appeared even gloomier.
When the off-road vehicle drove over the dirt road, it swayed left and right, relying solely on strong grip to prevent slipping.
Jing Xian was driving, and Lu Yingjiu was sitting in the passenger seat catching up on sleep.
It’s half past seven in the morning.
When Ye Feng heard what Lu Yingjiu told about Zhao Ziming and the spider, he felt restless and still felt that he should go to the villagers to ask for more information. So he and Xiao Li went out in the rain more than half an hour ago.
Lu Yingjiu calmed down Aaron and the man in red clothes, asking them to stay in a room and not wander around. He closed the doors and windows, used towels to block the cracks in the windows and doors, and finally gave them a few more talismans.
The two of them were so panicked, especially Aaron, that they almost cried.
Lu Yingjiu could understand their mood, but now was not the time to comfort people slowly.
He asked the red clothed man to keep an eye on Aaron, and borrowed his off-road vehicle to go find Ye and Li – they must be struggling walking in the mud.
In the car, Lu Yingjiu was fed hand-grabbed pancakes and a glass of soy milk.
The hand-grabbed pancake was stuffed with cheese, eggs and ham, the lettuce was crisp and tender, and there were so many ingredients that the whole pancake swelled and bulged. The soy milk was smooth and delicious, and the fragrant and hot taste drove away the coldness of the rainy day.
Lu Yingjiu took a sip and asked vaguely, “Where did you get this thing from?”
“I made it myself.” Jing Xian said, “Weren’t you trying to comfort someone at the time? I’m not good at doing this kind of thing, so I borrowed the hotel’s kitchen.”
Lu Yingjiu was suspicious of this “borrow”.
But he felt that it was better not to find out in detail how Jing Xian “borrowed”. The result would definitely exceed imagination and raise his blood pressure.
Anyway, after finishing breakfast and catching up on his sleep for ten minutes, he finally saw the two figures in the rain.
Ye Feng and Xiao Li were particularly in an embarrassing situation.
The shoes were soaked through, clothes stuck to the back, pants stuck to the calves, and socks were full of water. It was really uncomfortable.
They borrowed an umbrella from the hotel, but it was extremely thin. When the strong wind blew, the umbrella frame seemed like it was about to fall apart, and could slip out of their hands at any moment.
Jing Xian drove the car over and gently pressed the horn.
The two men turned back.
Lu Yingjiu rolled down the window and said to them, “Come on, there are towels in the back seat.”
They were stunned for a moment, then opened the car door and came up.
There were several thick towels laid out on the back seat. The red clothed man had taken them out of the hotel room and put them in the car. They picked them up and wiped themselves hard.
“Oh my god,” Xiao Li wiped the rain off his face with a towel and couldn’t help but sigh, “Fortunately you are here. If it had been any later, I would have been blown away by the wind. What bad weather this is… …”
Ye Feng said, “It’s a pity, we didn’t find out anything.”
Lu Yingjiu asked, “How many households have you asked?”
“I’m not sure,” Ye Feng thought for a moment. “We’ve visited at least ten to twenty houses coming from the south. The rain was pouring, and almost every house had someone inside, but their attitudes weren’t great, and they all claimed not to know anything.”
He heard Lu Yingjiu say that this village was a bit strange, so he kept it in mind and didn’t say everything out loud. He only said that a friend of his was bitten and that he wanted to study the spiders here and ask about the nursing home on the way.
As a result, after he went over to ring the doorbell——
The first person to open the door was a middle-aged woman, then she said, “Who cares about spiders? I see so many bugs every day, do I have to study them one by one?”
The second one was a young man: “I just came here and I don’t know anything.”
The third one was a sturdy guy: “You are still broadcasting on a rainy day? You are really crazy…”
Just as Xiao Li was about to explain that they were not anchors, the sturdy guy slammed the door.
The attitudes of the villagers they encountered afterwards were equally cold, probably because they were annoyed by the harassment by those anchors.
Ye Feng wiped his hair haphazardly with a towel until a bunch stuck up in different directions. He concluded, “In short, we found nothing. There are only two or three households in this area, and we were just about to ask.”
“Where?” Lu Yingjiu asked.
Ye Feng pointed in the direction, and the off-road vehicle drove that way.
The last few households were scattered widely.
Jing Xian stopped the car in front of the nearest doorstep and said, “There are several big umbrellas behind the car.”
Ye Feng turned around and felt around, and indeed, he found them. They were long-handled umbrellas with thick and heavy canopies. It took some effort for him to retrieve them.
Just right, four in total.
Ye Feng asked, “Do you two want to get out of the car? In fact, Xiao Li and I are enough, to save you from getting wet again.”
“It doesn’t matter, I’ve already been caught in a round of rain this morning.” Lu Yingjiu said nonchalantly, taking the black umbrella from Ye Feng’s hand, “Let’s go together.”
Now that he was going, Jing Xian would definitely follow him. He took the last umbrella.
As soon as Ye Feng and Xiao Li opened the door, a strong wind mixed with rain poured in. The two of them were hit by rain again, and they struggled against the wind to open the umbrellas.
The same thing happened when Jing Xian opened the door. The wind blew his black hair, and he stretched out his hand to open the umbrella——
Lu Yingjiu was about to get out of the car when he suddenly heard a “snap!”
Loud, crisp and decisive.
He looked back.
Jing Xian looked at him innocently with half an umbrella in his hand.
…The reason why it was half an umbrella was because the upper half of the umbrella was missing.
Lu Yingjiu instinctively looked out of the car, only to see a black object that seemed to be the umbrella frame connected to the umbrella canopy, flying in the wind.
Lu Yingjiu: “……”
Jing Xian said, “It’s broken.”
Lu Yingjiu silently handed him the umbrella he was holding, thinking: you don’t say, it got cut in half directly.
This time, Jing Xian opened the umbrella safely.
Ye Feng and Xiao Li’s umbrellas were swaying left and right in the wind, almost impossible to hold on to.
But Jing Xian, not knowing what method he used, the umbrella canopy didn’t even wrinkle or shake when blown by the wind.
When he walked around to the co-pilot and opened the door, Lu Yingjiu didn’t feel any rain. He blocked all the wind and rain alone.
Then Lu Yingjiu inexplicably thought that when Jing Xian was walking next to the abyss of the ghost realm, it should be the same scene – no matter how the strong wind tore the flesh and blood of other ghosts, Jing Xian could still walk through it lightly. If he wanted, the wind might not even lift a corner of his clothes.
When Lu Yingjiu got out of the car, Jing Xian hugged him naturally. It was safe and sound under the umbrella, with no wind or rain, it was a small world of its own.
But……
Lu Yingjiu said, “Did you break the umbrella on purpose just now?”
Just for this performance, even a typhoon couldn’t stir up Jing Xian.
Jing Xian stagnated.
Seeing his reaction, Lu Yingjiu understood everything and said helplessly, “This is someone else’s umbrella. How can you break it just because you wanted it to?”
“It’s not like we won’t compensate.” Seeing that he was exposed, Jing Xian stopped pretending and laughed softly, “I just want to hold an umbrella with you.”
Lu Yingjiu was stunned for a moment.
He didn’t expect Jing Xian to suddenly hit a straight ball. He didn’t know how to respond, so he just said, “What is this, strolling under the rain?”
“Should be a typhoon stroll.” Jing Xian was still smiling, “It’s just that it’s a bit of a hardcore romance.”
“Thank you for coming up with that.” Lu Yingjiu smiled.
They walked towards the lighted house in the wind and rain.
The doorbell of this house was broken, and no matter how many times they pressed it, there was no response.
Ye Feng began knocking on the door. Despite the bright lights inside, no one came to answer.
He was impatient to wait, and just as he was about to knock harder, the door suddenly opened by itself——
His hand stopped awkwardly in mid-air.
Bright light poured out from the room, lengthening the shadows of the four of them. The person who opened the door was a woman in her thirties, with almond-shaped eyes, braided hair, and shiny black hair.
There was a soft temperament about her that made people feel good about her.
When she saw them, she was stunned for a few seconds. “You…..what’s wrong?”
Ye Feng said, “Don’t worry, we are just here to ask about the nursing home. You don’t need to let us in, we can just stand outside.”
“Nursing home,” the woman bit her lip slightly and said, “I don’t know much…”
It seemed like another dead end.
Ye Feng said again, “Then do you know what’s going on with the spiders here?” He started to make excuses again, “A friend of ours was bitten yesterday, and the wound is still swollen. I just wanted to ask and see if there are any local remedies in the village that can cure it.”
He had been using this “making friends out of thin air” tactic all the time.
The woman stopped talking and looked a little hesitant.
Looks like there might be a chance!
Ye Feng’s eyes lit up and he added, “Anything is good, it will definitely be of great help.”
The woman began to look at the four of them.
Fortunately, Lu Yingjiu, Ye Feng and Xiao Li were all young and good-looking, and they didn’t look like bad people, except…
Her eyes fell on Jing Xian.
As they say, actions speak louder than words. Lu Yingjiu quickly poked Jing Xian in the side.
Jing Xian immediately showed a “friendly” smile – he had mastered this skill in the past two days and was finally able to pretend to be somewhat friendly.
The woman looked at him repeatedly and finally said, “Come on in. It’s not safe standing outside in this heavy rain. I’ll make you a cup of hot tea.”
She smiled, “You can call me Ah Mei.”
Jing Xian whispered in Lu Yingjiu’s ear, “How was my pretending?”
The sound was low, mixed with the sound of rain, making the person’s ear tingle.
“Not bad,” Lu Yingjiu said, “There’s progress.” He lowered his head and smiled.
The four of them entered the door, put their umbrellas aside, and changed into clean slippers.
The rainwater slid down the umbrella surface and instantly accumulated into a small puddle, which continued to expand.
Lu Yingjiu looked around.
Although the house was small, it was neatly arranged. The entire room was beige-colored, suitable for women. There were artificial flowers arranged on the window edge of the living room, a white cloth was spread on the dining table, and even the TV had a beautiful rose-patterned dust cover.
Ah Mei went to the kitchen to make tea.
They were sitting on the sofa, which was very old and had a lot of loose threads on it, which looked like it had been scratched by some kind of pet’s paws.
Does she have a cat or a dog? Lu Yingjiu thought.
He subconsciously looked around but saw no trace of pets.
The TV was on, and a clear female voice came: [Now is the weather forecast. The weather station issued a typhoon orange warning at 3 o’clock this afternoon. This year’s no. 17 Typhoon “Tarantula” is currently moving north-northwest at a speed of 16 kilometers per hour, with a seven-level wind radius of 150-250 kilometers…]
“‘Tarantula’, I don’t like this name…” Xiao Li muttered, “It sounds too unlucky.”
After a while, Ah Mei put three cups of chrysanthemum tea on the table and sat across from them – Ye Feng carefully observed it, and it was exactly as Lu Yingjiu said, she put the tea cup up with her left hand.
She’s left-handed.
The tea was hot and fragrant.
Ah Mei asked, “Are you anchors?”
Ye Feng: “No, I have relatives who stayed here for a while before. I wanted to come over and have fun, but I didn’t expect to encounter such a thing.”
“Oh——” Ah Mei smiled, “So that is what it is.”
Lu Yingjiu leaned forward slightly and asked, “What’s going on with the spiders here? Have any of you ever been bitten?”
“I haven’t heard of anyone being bitten. It seems like they only bite tourists, probably because they’re afraid of strangers. Thus, we don’t have any remedies for spider bites.”
A smile flashed across Ah Mei’s face, but she realized it wasn’t quite appropriate and quickly lowered her head, took a sip of tea to cover it up, and continued, “This matter started a long time ago. You should have heard the rumors of the nursing home in the mountains, right? The patients there have had accidents, and there have been strange disappearances and deaths.”
“I probably heard it from other anchors,” Lu Yingjiu said.
The situation mentioned by Ah Mei was consistent with what Ye Feng said.
Ah Mei nodded. “That’s okay. I was young at that time and didn’t remember much. My mother told me about it later. At that time, the accident in the nursing home had just happened, the villagers caught wind of it. Everyone was very scared and thought about whether to leave.”
“My mother was also planning to take me away, but before we left, it rained heavily and the way out was blocked by a mudslide.”
Xiao Li: “Ah, then and now…”
“Yes, it’s the same as now,” Ah Mei said. “Our family didn’t make it in the end. The village gradually realized that only people inside the nursing home were involved in the accident, so they became less afraid. Later, when the roads were clear, not many families fled. ”
This was the same as what Ye Feng said.
Lu Yingjiu asked again, “Do you know anything else? About the nursing home or spiders, or anything related to patients or ghost exorcists, it doesn’t matter how small.”
This time Ah Mei was silent for a long time.
She unconsciously rotated the cup in her hand, her fingers pressing down hard, causing her knuckles to turn slightly pale.
She glanced quickly out the window.
It was gloomy outside the window and nothing could be seen clearly.
Then she lowered her voice and said, “There is another thing that others don’t mention much… My mother secretly told me that she felt that after the mudslide, there were a lot more spiders in the village.”
Ye Feng and Xiao Li looked at each other——
Lu Yingjiu said, “What’s so special about those spiders? Have you ever seen any strange patterns on them?”
What he wanted to ask about was actually the human face on the spider’s belly.
Ah Mei frowned.
After a long time, she said, “I don’t quite remember…” She held her forehead slightly, “I tend to get headaches when it rains, and I can’t recall it suddenly.”
Her demeanor didn’t seem like she was faking it.
Although Ye Feng was impatient, there was no way to press for more information, so he said, “How about this, I’ll leave you my contact information, and if you remember anything, please get in touch with me.”
Ah Mei nodded. “Okay.” While still pressing her temples.
Before leaving, Ah Mei sent them to the door.
The four of them went out holding umbrellas.
Lu Yingjiu was hugged by Jing Xian on the shoulders, deep in thought about the situation. After walking a few steps, he suddenly heard Ye Feng exclaim, “Oh no! I just changed my phone number, it seems that I gave the wrong number. I need to go back.”
He took a few steps, but Xiao Li didn’t follow him.
When he turned around, he saw that Xiao Li had fallen behind and was standing in front of Ah Mei’s window, looking intently into the house with a focused expression.
Ye Feng was shocked. “You, you, are you peeking! How can you do such a thing!”
Xiao Li didn’t say anything, just waved to them.
Ye Feng went up to pull him. “You come with me quickly, I won’t look.”
Xiao Li insisted on not leaving.
As he got closer, Ye Feng noticed that his expression was not right.
The expression on Lu Yingjiu on the side became serious and he walked over quickly.
Ye Feng looked towards the window.
Thick curtains blocked most of the window, leaving only a corner on the side, where the light leaked out.
He leaned over.
The house was empty.
Ye Feng was stunned for a moment, then looked down. Under the bright light, only one person could be seen lying on her stomach – Ah Mei was crawling on the floor using her hands and feet!
Ye Feng’s hands and feet went numb at this moment!
The horror in his heart was like a violent wave, but after all, he had been in the industry for a long time and reacted quickly. He subconsciously held his breath and looked behind Ah Mei.
——His talent was not low, and if he paid attention, he could still see most ghosts.
But Ah Mei’s back was clean.
No lying little ghosts.
In other words, she was doing this entirely by her own will… which was even more creepy.
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He squinted his eyes and focused on the claw marks on the sofa again.
Was it really done by a cat or dog?
Ye Feng immediately took out his mobile phone and prepared to record the video.
Suddenly a strong wind blew in, with a sharp chill, which deflected the rain and sprinkled it all on the screen. With the water droplets, the screen’s touch sensitivity became unresponsive. He cursed secretly and flicked several times before turning on the video. The camera was pointed at the gap in the curtain——
At this moment, he was pulled back by Lu Yingjiu.
Ye Feng was stunned and soon understood why: a pair of eyes looked straight at him, black and white.
Ah Mei stood up at some point and looked at the two of them through the gap.
Xiao Li was clinging to a piece of talisman paper and was about to throw it away, but was frightened by this scene and took half a step back.
Then bumped into someone.
He turned around stiffly: it was a man in his fifties, wearing a dark raincoat over his old shirt, with sunken eye sockets.
Xiao Li: “Ahhhh! Mommy ahhhhh!”
Lu Yingjiu patted him. “It’s okay, it’s okay, he’s a human being.”
Xiao Li took a closer look. Although the light was not strong, the man in front of him had a shadow, and his face was ruddy, without any yin energy. He definitely did not look like a dead person.
Moreover, the man looked very familiar.
No matter how you look at it, it’s the village chief Feng Mao!
Feng Mao frowned and said, “Why is it you again! What are you doing? Are you being sneaky? Do you want to steal something?”
Only then did Xiao Li think of Ah Mei and turned around suddenly.
The curtains had already been drawn.
Feng Mao looked over and said, “What are you looking at? There’s nothing there.” His brows furrowed even more and he sighed heavily, “You must be thieves. I shouldn’t have given you the map to the mountain yesterday, you must have some evil intentions!”
Ye Feng calmed down and reassured again and again, “Absolutely not, absolutely not. We are here to ask about things. If you don’t believe it, you can ask the few families in front.”
Feng Mao looked at them and said with doubts, “Then what are you looking at outside the window? Are you thinking that because Ah Mei is a fool that you can take advantage of her? I see that you four grown men have no shame. I am warning you, don’t bully people.”
“…Fool?” Ye Feng hesitated.
“That’s right.” Feng Mao snorted, “You guys are still pretending with me, a bunch of young people like you. You stay here for now, and when I return, I’ll give you a proper lesson.”
Lu Yingjiu remained calm throughout the whole process and said nothing.
Feng Mao held an umbrella, arrived at the front door of Ah Mei’s house, and knocked on the door.
He was holding an umbrella in one hand and holding something in the other.
After more than ten seconds, footsteps came from the room.
Ye Feng quietly held a few talismans in his hands, just in case.
Squeak——
The door opened.
Ah Mei stood at the door, her eyes dull and her hair disheveled, looking like she hadn’t combed her hair in more than ten days.
Where was the tidiness that was just now? She seems like a lunatic.
Lu Yingjiu frowned.
Feng Mao handed out the plastic box in his hand and said, “This is the meal prepared for you tonight. Eat it slowly.”
Ah Mei paused for a few seconds, then suddenly snatched the lunch box like crazy, put it on the table, grabbed it with her hands and devoured it.
She looked like a wild beast when she ate, and her face was instantly covered in rice.
Within a few minutes, the lunch box was empty.
Ah Mei threw the lunch box on the ground, laughed strangely at them, and shouted, “Ashes! Ashes, ashes, ashes! Only ashes are useful, hahahaha!” Then, she rushed back into the inner room, slammed the door shut, and didn’t come out again.
Feng Mao sighed.
While taking the lunch box back, he said, “I used to bring her chopsticks and a knife and fork, but she kept hurting herself, so I stopped bringing them.” He looked at Ye Feng and Xiao Li, “What’s with your expressions? Did she scare you?”
“No, no, no.” Xiao Li opened his mouth, “We, we were talking to her just now…”
“Talking?” Feng Mao smiled, “How is it possible? After a year, it would be good if she could speak three complete sentences. But one year, she forced a few tourists to stop them from coming, saying that there were spiders here. Those people were scared to death—of course, they were all scared away by her.”
Ye Feng said, “Wait a minute, what about the spiders.”
“She’s afraid of spiders.”
“Something’s wrong. There are too many spiders here, and they appeared overnight.”
“There are a lot of bugs in the mountains, what to do, catch all the spiders? And if bitten by then, will one become Spider-Man?” Feng Mao picked up the lunch box, “You city people just don’t know enough. Go, go, come with me, and don’t come near her house again, or I will call the police and arrest you.”
He chased the four of them away.
****
Back to the car.
As soon as Ye Feng closed the door, he murmured, “Something is wrong, something is really wrong. There is definitely a big problem in this village.”
“I think so too.” Xiao Li was still in a state of shock. He glanced out the window from time to time, as if he was worried that Feng Mao would follow him. “Since it started raining yesterday, the whole village has been eerie.”
Ye Feng took a deep breath.
This morning, his family originally sent him the route to the graveyard in the mountain.
But it was raining and something like this happened again. How could we still go up the mountain?
They shouldn’t leave behind the dozen anchors and innocent villagers who haven’t left yet – even though this village is extremely weird, it’s not like everyone is abnormal, right?
“Let’s go back to the hotel first.” Lu Yingjiu said, “Let’s check how the situation is.”
The off-road vehicle drove to the hotel.
As a result, when they arrived at the place, Ye Feng and Xiao Li both got out of the car, but Lu Yingjiu didn’t move.
Lu Yingjiu rolled down the window and said, “Go up and see how those people are doing. It’s best to gather all the people from out of town together for safety.” He added, “Isn’t there ashes in your crocodile toy, remember to put it away.”
Ye Feng nodded and asked, “Then where are you going?”
“Go and see something, will be back soon.” Lu Yingjiu said, “Don’t worry.”
He then rolled up the car window.
The air conditioning inside the car was whirring, and the wind mixed with raindrops hit the glass.
He took a deep breath and said to Jing Xian, “Go directly to Feng Mao’s house.”
Feng Mao’s house was not far from the hotel, maybe only a ten minute drive.
Along the way, Lu Yingjiu looked out the window expressionlessly, the butterfly knife dancing up and down in his hand. His fingers were long and slender, and playing with it was really pleasing to the eye, as if there was really a dexterous butterfly fluttering about.
If anyone familiar with him saw it, they would know that he had murderous intent.
When they arrived at the place, the car stopped steadily.
Jing Xian grabbed an umbrella and was about to open the door when he was pulled by Lu Yingjiu.
Lu Yingjiu said helplessly, “Don’t damage it again. I’ll just share an umbrella with you.”
As a result, Jing Xian was satisfied and let the umbrella open, still intact.
He went around to the co-pilot to pick up Lu Yingjiu again, taking advantage of the fact that the others were not around. This time it was even more severe and directly stretched out his hand to pull Lu Yingjiu out.
The lights from Feng Mao’s house shone through the rain curtain, lengthening their shadows.
The red door was right in front of them, tightly closed, as if it contained thousands of secrets.
Figures walking around could be vaguely seen through the window. Several pots of flowers growing outside the window had been destroyed by the typhoon, and the bright petals were mixed with the soil.
They stood shoulder to shoulder in the wind and rain. The sky was dark in the distance and the sea of trees were toppled over. The typhoon named “Tarantula” was spinning, breaking through the sultry air in the south and bringing a heavy rain.
Jing Xian leaned down slightly and asked Lu Yingjiu in the ear, “Afraid?”
The tone was teasing: After all, the answer to this question, they knew it very well.
Lu Yingjiu glanced at him.
This look had the same helplessness as always, but also a bit of a smile. The light made his skin delicate, from his forehead to his smooth jaw line, from his neck to his delicate collarbone, everything was covered with a layer of shimmer. Just by looking at it, one could imagine a wonderful touch.
Jing Xian’s Adam’s apple rolled up and down, and he held his hand with a little more force.
“I’m not afraid.” Lu Yingjiu said lazily, and the butterfly knife made another beautiful flip in his hand, “Isn’t it because you are here?”
I really hate spiders